Scroll One; Chapter Ten:

I Need You

What hope could I have against two Akatsuki members? I didn't care. I wanted them both dead. I wanted to torture them, to cut their bodies up and burn them alive. I wanted to skin them. I wanted to rip their fingernails and eyeballs out. I wanted to hear them scream.

Naruto, who stood next to me, seemed to have the same idea. I could feel the Chakra radiating from his body as his breathing escaped in ragged gasps. "Give him back," he growled, rearing his head back as he took off running toward the two. I began after him. "GIVE GAARA BACK YOU FUCKING—"

Sakura caught me by my wrist, yanking me back against her where she held me tightly against her own body. Kakashi had stopped Naruto short as he appeared in front of him defensively.

"Calm down," Kakashi ordered us. "Neither of you are thinking."

"I have to get to him," I thought in a panic, struggling against the pink haired girl. "I have to get to Gaara! Let me go!"

Words seemed unable to form, so instead of begging Sakura to release me, I let out some sort of demonic battle cry. The more I kicked my legs around, the tighter she held onto me.

The man who seemed hunched over turned to the blond, who promptly asked, "Something on your mind, Sasori?"

"Deidara, I'll hold onto him," he replied in a deep voice, motioning toward Gaara's lifeless body. "Since that jinchuriki seems so hell-bent on getting him back."

Instead of agreeing, Deidara shook his head. The two of them argued for a moment over who would take Gaara and even though it was the perfect time to strike, Sakura's grasp on my remained and Kakashi continued to block Naruto.

However, when Kakashi turned from Naruto, the blond yanked a scroll from his pouch, summoning a giant shuriken from it. The amount of pure rage he put into his throw was obvious, but Sasori – with the utmost grace and ease - deflected the metal weapon with his hidden tail. I could've sworn I saw a drip of purple liquid drop from the tip.

"This guy must've been the one who almost killed Kankuro," I assumed.

The two Akatsuki members carried on with their bickering. I wondered if Sasori even glanced at Naruto's attack. My fear was beginning to paralyze me. My knees locked and my tongue became numb.

Sasori reared his tail back, mumbling a low threat to Deidara, who only smirked and stood from Gaara's body. A short-lived feeling of relief flooded over me, casting out some of the fear. It all came rushing back, though, when Deidara lifted his hand, a gigantic clay bird emerging from it. It didn't seem like a normal bird. Instead, it reminded me of the stupid drawings Haketa and I would make when we were much younger.

"It isn't even in the same league compared to your grotesque puppet show," Deidara commented as the bird sniffed at Gaara, eventually taking him in it's mouth.

Sasori scoffed, his tail aiming directly for his cocky partner. Rolling his eyes, Deidara jumped back onto his bird. I watched in horror as the bird tilted it's head back, swallowing Gaara. As much as I wanted to scream, I couldn't find my own body to do so. The bird soared above us, toward the exit of the cave, and as it escaped, Deidara smiled and lifted his hands into a peace sign.

As if sharing the same thoughts, Naruto and I took off full-force after him. Although my entire being felt numb, I forced myself to keep going, constantly reminding myself that yes, I do have legs even though I can't feel them at the moment and that yes, Gaara would be doing the exact same if the positions were reversed.

Stopping atop a worn down shrine arch, we watched Deidara circle the sky. "He's taunting us," I growled, wondering exactly how far I could through my tachi. Maybe, if my father and grandfather were truly watching over me, I could pierce his head or possibly even his jugular vein.

Within moments, Kakashi was by my side, talking into the radio on around his neck. "Guy, do you read me? The enemy has split up. We're going to need your team. Return as quickly as you can." I was able to hear distinct chatter from Guy's side, but when Kakashi let out a rough sigh, I knew they wouldn't be able to help us.

"GIVE HIM BACK!" I screeched to Deidara, as if my words would do anything. I reached into my own pouch, pulling senbon and throwing them as hard as I could. They only bounced off the clay bird's body, falling into the water below us.

"Are you so willing to waste your time on me, Kakashi of the Sharingan?" Deidara questioned. Only then did I notice Kakashi had pulled down his mask, revealing his Sharingan eye. "You know, my partner, Sasori, is probably a more dangerous opponent than I am, as much as I hate to admit it. His idea of art is very different from my own." He lifted his eyes to the cave behind us, a proud smirk growing on his face. "I'd be worried about that pink-haired chick and the old lady if I were you. You really think they're good enough to take down Sasori?"

"Kakashi-sensei, you should go help Sakura and old lady Chiyo," Naruto suggested through his tightened jaw. "And Kyan, you need to go back to the village."

"Absolutely not," I replied sternly. There was no way I would turn and run. I'd gotten so far and Gaara was within mere feet from me.

"JUST GO!" he shouted, launching himself toward Deidara. Kakashi had tried to grab onto him to hold him back, but he was too late. Deidara's bird had hovered from Naruto's attack, sending the boy crashing into the rock wall behind him.

Deidara closed his fist tightly. While he was focused on creating another bird, Kakashi whispered to me, "I'm going to launch you, okay? One, two, three!" I gave him my hand, which he grabbed tightly and hurled me toward our enemy. I flew past a much smaller bird and landed sloppily on the immense clone as it exploded behind me.

The realization that a member of the Akatsuki was right in front of me sent a pulse of adrenaline through me. I unsheathed my tachi, attacking in the manner my father had showed me years ago. Unfortunately, Deidara was extremely fast and dodged everything I threw at him.

"My, my, you're a bit of an oddball, aren't you?" he commented, giving me that smirk that I so wanted to cut into pieces. "Too bad you aren't even close to defeating me!" His leg collided with my gut and before I could realize what was going on, I was sent tumbling the same way Naruto was.

"Got you!" Kakashi said, cushioning my landing in his arms. I felt as Deidara's kick took every breath out of me.

As I struggled to breathe, he laughed from his bird perch. "I would've been so disappointed if you were killed with just that one little attack."

"FUCK YOU! GIVE GAARA BACK!" Naruto screamed.

"You're quite a strange jinchuriki, huh? I thought you were all sullen loners who didn't care about anyone but yourselves. So far, we've destroyed two of your kind, not including him, of course. But nobody tried to save the others before. Not a single friend," he said, his eyes flicking to Naruto, then to me, "not a single lover. Not a single soul came to help them. In fact, it seemed like most people were grateful that we had disposed of them. Maybe you can't ignore one of your own kind, huh? Maybe you feel connected to this pathetic creature?"

"DON'T CALL HIM THAT!" I shrieked, the tears finally falling from my eyes. "HE ISN'T PATHETIC!"

"You mean he wasn't pathetic. When we removed Shukaku from him, Gaara ceased to exist. Very soon, Naruto, the same thing will happen to you."

"Gaara's gone?" Naruto questioned. I stared at him – at the strange crimson Chakra forming around his body. "YOU'RE GONNA PAY!"

Humming to himself, Deidara ordered his bird to flee. I allowed my feet to skid down to the water below, using my Chakra to run after him on the surface. Before long, Naruto and Kakashi were in front of me. Even though my legs screamed for me to stop, I pushed on to keep up with them.

"Guy, do you copy?" Kakashi asked, bringing his finger to the radio. "How is everything on your end?"

The only response was extremely loud groaning and shouts. I figured things weren't going as great as we had hoped, but their team was amazing. They would make it out of whatever was going on.

We came to trees that had fallen centuries before and whose roots and tops had been covered in layers upon layers of soil. Bile threatened to rise in my throat as we jumped high on them, but I forced it down.

"You'd better catch up to me soon, or I don't know what's going to happen to the body!" Deidara taunted. His words only sent me into a frenzy of rage and panic.

From the sky fell three tiny birds that expanded into much larger ones. One of them collided with the tree trunk Naruto had been standing on. The explosion knocked him off his feet. I narrowly avoided the fiery smoke of the one nearest to me. The final bird was struck down by Kakashi's shuriken.

"Come on!" I yelled to Naruto as he climbed his way to the top of a trunk. "Hurry!" I sped past him, my eyes locked on Deidara's mobile bird. It definitely didn't take him long to catch up to me.

"You two need to slow down! We're straying too far from the others!" Kakashi ordered.

"Are you joking me?! He's going to get away!" I replied.

"He won't go as far as to lose us! He's luring Naruto!"

"Then tell me how to take him down!" Naruto growled. "We don't have much time!"

"Don't worry. I have a plan. I just need more time to work out the kinks, but you two need to calm down."

We followed Deidara for miles and miles. I knew I was well past the point of exhaustion. I'd never pushed myself so hard before. Sweat dripped from every part of my body and my mind seemed jumbled. At a point, I'd forgotten what I was doing and who I was with.

"You both are close-combat fighters," Kakashi eventually pointed out, bringing me back to reality. "Deidara is a long-range fighter. We either need to fight him up close, which Kyan proved does not easily work, or beat him at his own game."

"What do you mean by 'his own game'?" I questioned.

"You need a long-range fighter or someone who can use long-range ninjutsu. If you don't have either of those, there's no way you can beat him. Now, if you had the intellect of Shikamaru, that would be a completely different story."

"What are you trying to say?!"

"I have that superior intellect," Kakashi continued. "I can also sustain in a long-ranged battle."

"Then we don't need to worry about that part!" I added. He nodded in response.

"Which is why I said to calm down. Now, chasing him like this isn't doing anything. He isn't giving us much of an opening with that bird of his blocking us. So we must create one ourselves."

As Kakashi drilled his plan into our heads, I could feel myself wearing down even more. His expectations of me exceeded anything I could ever even think of doing, but as Gaara's face flashed in my mind, a new sense of determination settled itself within me. I imagined the form of his drunken lips, the confused tilt of his head, and the very first time he'd ever smiled at me. Just as it did that day, my heart was sent into a flutter of excitement.

"Ready? Go!" Kakashi ordered, opening his eyes wide. I focused on his Sharingan. It was unlike any I'd seen before, which in all honestly was only Sasuke's during his Chuunin Exam fight with Gaara.

Naruto grabbed onto my arm and I was once again thrown up to Deidara. "You again?! Worthless brat!" he grumbled as I landed on the bird's back. He attempted another kick, but I was able to duck and dodge this one. Like I was told, I didn't attack. I only kept my back to my teammates, barely avoiding Deidara's kicks and head-butts.

"Now, Kyan!" Kakashi's voice echoed from below. Before I pushed myself into a backflip away from him, I gave Deidara a well-deserved middle finger.

As I landed into the water below, I knew Deidara had made eye-contact with Kakashi. That was all we needed. The rest should be easy.

I swam to the surface, crawling out onto the top. Naruto had fallen back, giving his sensei some room to perform. Although my soggy clothes dragged me down, catching up to him was undemanding. Deidara's image wavered. He swirled into an invisible force and even from as far away as we were, Naruto and I could hear his pained groans. Blood spattered down, followed by an arm.

"This must have something to do with Kakashi's Sharingan," I pondered, making a mental note to never get caught up in the gaze.

We had finally caught up to Kakashi. I took his hand in mine, focusing most of my remaining Chakra into his wounds. His breath was heavy and staggered as he muttered, "I let him get away."

"Don't sweat it, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto remarked, coming up behind us with a clone. We followed him to where Deidara had disappeared, only to witness him yell, "Rasengan!" A blue Chakra orb formed in his hand with the help of his clone and he pushed it toward the older blond, who jumped away from it without hesitation. Instead of chasing after him, Naruto shoved his hand through the neck of the bird, decapitating it.

"Gaara!" I called, taking my attention from Kakashi to catch the head along with two additional Naruto clones. We were able to place it on a tree branch safely, but soon found out just how hard the clay was. I scraped away at it with my fingers, but resorted to punching when my nails began to bleed.

After what seemed like hours, the shell began to crack. One of the clones reared back his fist, delivering a powerful blow. I could see Gaara's hair through the hole he left.

"Gaara!" I screamed, reaching for him. The hole was still too small, so I worked with the clones to break it open enough to touch him. "Please answer me, Gaara! Stop playing around!"

Finally, the clones were able to pull him from the head. Gaara hung lifelessly in their arms. I kneeled down next to him, waiting desperately for him to lift his head and ask, "Got you, didn't I?" But when he didn't, I ran my fingers through his dirty hair, pressing my forehead against his as a bloodcurdling scream escaped my throat. I couldn't even focus on the actions next to me. I knew Naruto was going about as crazy as I was on a clay replication of Deidara, but I couldn't bring myself to leave Gaara.

"Kyan! We need to go!" Kakashi yelled. Only then did I realize Naruto's immense Chakra. I turned to him and through my blinding tears, I could see an incredible aura surrounding him. It had even taken on the form of two pointed ears and a tail. I looked up at the two clones that were supporting Gaara. They wore blank expressions.

In a hurry, Kakashi leaped down from the tree branch, throwing a seal onto Naruto's forehead. Slowly, the aura dissipated and the clones shook their heads, rubbing their eyes sleepily. The true Naruto fell to his knees, breathing heavily.

"Have you calmed yourself?" Kakashi asked cautiously.

"Yeah," Naruto replied, taking a large breath.

Two more, much weaker Chakra sources were coming fast. I readied to fight again, fueled by a pure storm of wrath, but sighed in relief Sakura and Chiyo showed themselves. Both of them looked like they had been through hell and back.

As they conversed, I turned back to Gaara. I reached up, touching his cold cheek with my palm. "I love you," I whispered. "I'm so sorry."

Thunderous crashing noises sounded from not too far off in the forest. My heart dropped into my stomach. There was no way we could continue fighting for very much longer. We had all been pushed to our limits. Luckily, about twenty feet away, Guy's team had appeared. Unluckily, with Deidara. I strained to see what was happening.

"Now its time I show you my true art!" Deidara's voice echoed. His body bubbled up to the point of ripping his clothing.

"Everyone! Get back! Quickly!" Neji shouted.

"Art is an explosion!" Deidara yelled just before his own body exploded.

The two clones of Naruto hoisted Gaara's body up, fleeing the flames with him. With one of their free hands, I was dragged along, too weak to jump away on my own. In the blink of an eye, the heat from behind us had vanished. Instead of stopping in the open area gracefully, I tumbled to a halt. My arms and legs trembled as I lifted myself up.

"What…happened?" Tenten asked, settling her gaze on a gasping Kakashi.

Kakashi coughed, shaking his head slowly. "I transported him and the explosion to another time and space."

The two clones laid Gaara on the grass before poofing away. I struggled to crawl to him, kneeling next to his body. Sakura, who gave me a faltering smile, sat on the other side of him. She pressed her palms to his chest for a few moments. We all waited in painful silence. Eventually, she shook her head, standing as tears began to brim her eyes.

"No," I whispered, allowing my head to fall onto his chest. I waited for a heartbeat that never came. Lifting my lips to the tattoo on his forehead, my tears fell into his hair. "This isn't…You weren't supposed to die, Gaara."

"Kyan," Sakura mumbled. I didn't pay any attention to her.

"YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME, GAARA!" I shouted, burying my face into his neck. "WE WERE GOING TO GET MARRIED, YOU JERK! WE WERE GOING TO BE HAPPY! THIS ISN'T HOW YOU JOKE AROUND WITH PEOPLE! PLEASE STOP IT!" I wrapped my arms around his neck. "Please," I begged, "don't leave me. I can't lose you, too. I love you. I love you so fucking much. Don't do this. I need you."

"Kyan, you need to calm down," Kakashi suggested.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" I bellowed, turning to face them. Without anything else to say, I buried myself into Gaara again.

"If you Suna Shinobi had never put that monster inside him, none of this would have happened!" Naruto shouted, pointing to Chiyo. Tears of his own cascaded down his cheeks. "Did you ever consider how Gaara felt?! Did you ever even ask?! You call him a jinchuriki?! How can you decide that for someone else?!"

My breathing turned into gasping hiccups. I lifted my head to stare into the wrinkled face of Chiyo. She gave me a tired stare before lifting her hands onto his chest. "What're you…doing?" I managed to ask.

Sakura hung her head. "She's going to bring him back."